Fuel supply assemblies for combustors of gas turbine engines are known to include an external fuel manifold extending around the combustor's outer casing to supply fuel to a plurality of fuel nozzles which extend into the combustor, through the outer casing, in order to injection fuel and/or air into the combustion chamber.
Fuel manifolds of this type may be assembled from a sequence of manifold adaptors and transfer tubes. The manifold adaptors support nozzles for injection of fuel into the combustor, and the transfer tubes interconnect the manifold adaptors, and form primary and secondary fuel-supply networks therewith, to supply the nozzles with fuel.
However, such external fuel manifolds are typically fastened in place with numerous brackets and clamp supports fixed to the casing, making assembly and/or removal of any individual fuel nozzles difficult in the field. Additionally, certain engine designs have fuel nozzles which are not aligned with engine axis, further complicating fuel manifold design and installation.